The field of this invention relates to an upholstery machine, and more particularly to an upholstery machine which is to be usable for the tufting of buttons within cushions.
The typical cushion comprises a pad which is enclosed by a fabric, vinyl or leather. In order to give the cushion an attractive exterior appearance, the cushion may have a plurality of spaced-apart buttons tufted into the exterior surface of the cushion.
The normal procedure prior to this invention for the tufting of buttons has been strictly manual. The button assembly takes the form of a lower button and an upper button which are usually identical. The lower button has attached thereto a string loop. The length of the string loop is selected to be a certain length less than the thickness of the cushion. The string loop is connected to a slot in an elongated needle. The operator then passes the needle through the cushion at the desired location. The operator pulls the string loop tight until the bottom button is pushed tightly against the bottom surface of the cushion. The operator continues to hold the string loop tight and then compresses the top surface of the cushion about the area of the string loop. The operator takes a top button and attaches it to the string loop and then manually releases the needle. The operator then releases the cushion which permits the cushion to expand back to its normal state which results in the top button being pushed tightly against the top surface of the cushion.
It is not at all unusual for a typical cushion to have as many as ten, fifteen or twenty button assemblies. This manual procedure for the attaching of buttons is extremely timed consuming and as a result, it is labor expensive. There is a definite need for a machine which would at least semi-automate the tufting of buttons within cushions which would substantially decrease the time required for the tufting of buttons within cushions.